Happy Birthday, PaPa

He was known by many names...Pookie (like cookie with a "p" - this is what MiMi called him), Squirt, Daddy, Dave...but I called him PaPa, and today, he would have been 82. Happy Birthday, PaPa.We think about you every day and your love lives on in us all.

with his family: Uncle Sammy, Uncle Lloyd, PaPa, Aunt Edith, Grandm & Grandpa (left to right, back to front)

he looks like a Beach Boy here

in Rome, as a MP in the Army

he and MiMi's weddinghe and Mom
Mom, Daddy, MiMi and PaPa - Mom & Daddy's rehearsal dinner

me & PaPa

it looks like I'm scared out of my skin here - but it was my 4th birthday

gettin' a little snuggle

PaPa and Uncle Sammy fishin'

We celebrated birthdays with Mimi and PaPa - always.

Come on in - the whiskey's fine!

me with Mimi and PaPa

Mimi and PaPa on their 50th wedding anniversary

Patrick and PaPa

me & Pat with Mimi and PaPa

me & Pat with PaPa and his parents

me & Pat with Mimi and PaPa

PaPa with Pat and his tric

PaPa cutting Pat's hair

me, Mom and Pat with PaPa and his folks

PaPa at his parents' gravesite

Pat with Mimi and PaPa

Aunt Francie, Papa and Mom with me at my Masters graduation

PaPa with Gracie

Daddy, Mom, Jack, Gracie and PaPa - we went to Topwater Grill in San Leon to celebrate our anniversaries (Mom & Dad, Sept. 6 and Jack & I, August 31) - about two weeks later, Hurricane Ike changed the scenery and we're still waiting on Topwater to rebuild...

just this past Thanksgiving

"There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go" - Jean Paul Richter

We love you, PaPa.

Life after the party...

The evening after the party (last Saturday), we all loaded up and headed for some good seafood at Pappas - after a short nap, the girl indulged in some of Aunt Lindsey's fettucine alfredo...

...and some fried crawfish - that's the Lousiana on Marmie's side comin' out in her!

After some cleanup and finding a home for all the new goodies she received at her party, Grace, Marmie and I headed north for some window shopping...Mom hadn't been to Spring in a long time and she also wanted to see The Woodlands Market Square. By the time we got to the Woodlands, we only had a couple of hours to spend before the stores closed, but we ate at Tommy Bahamas, Grace got to play in the fountain (in her new swimsuit from Mr. Chuck and his family) and we had ice cream at Cold Stone for dessert - not a bad deal (although the Kenny Chesney concert was that night at the Pavilion, so the restaurant was a little more boisterous than usual)!

this little girl was soaked from head to toe and had been watching Gracie like, "Come on - whatcha waitin' for - get WET already!" - can you see her mouth ajar? It was crackin' me up -

finally she decided that it was time - she got her belly wet

now she thinks she's big stuff -

she's also started some freestyle swimming with Ms. Tobey - she's so cute with those goggles - still excited that she can see under water - "it's like a miracle, Mommy!"

swimming with Dora the Explorer mermaid - her fins actually flap and propel her through the water - she also got an Ariel from a little boy in her swim class, Stephen, that flaps her fins continuously - even cooler.

yay Gracie!

...and the big finale?

"Hey y'all" - Mom and I saw Paula Deen! She was the Keynote Speaker at a women's conference we attended - I have been a fan of hers since before it was cool to be a fan - I have almost all of her cookbooks, watch her Food Network shows, and have a subscription to her magazine. She was just as genuine and funny and pretty in person as she is when you see her on TV. We loved it - it was a real treat!

she kicked her shoes off - made me feel right at home -

and she even brought her husband, Michael -

THE birthday party

Although they had me in a frenzy, they finally arrived at 1:55 pm - the party started at 2! They set up lickety split and the fun ensued...Gracie loved the baby goats and sheep...

...and Mari spotted them firsty, but...

...the baby chicks, ducks and bunnies were the main attraction for our little one...

like, seriously, she stayed in that little blue tub almost the entire party...

the big gigantinormous tortoise was a fav of the adults though...

it especially gave us all a chuckle when he was used as a stepping stone...

the baby chick on our baby's arm

you see what I mean about almost the entire party???

the other animals got lots of love from the other kiddos though, so it worked out OK

It was hot...next year, maybe we'll have a pool party...

on her pony ride...

enjoying the story...that's Joe, the owner of all of the cuties (the animals, not the kids :))

Maggie, Caylee and Savannah riding in Gracie's jeep...

opening all of her loot....

ahhhh...the good stuff....lining up for cake...Moellers made a mistake so we got two cakes for the price of one -

it's the simple things in life that are sometimes the most pleasurable...

in the jump that Uncle Sergio brought for her...

cousin Brooke enjoying it, too...

they're trying to pick Jacqueline up...huh?

Jacqueline says, "No, no, not again!"

Uncle Sergio pushing Mari...

Gracie decides to give Uncle Serg a helping hand...

...and they ride off into the sunset...

Happy Birthday, Gracie - I hope you had as good of a time as the rest of us...we love you. You are always our little giggle wrapped in sunshine!